Alzheimer's Research UK

Last year we began our fundraising for Alzheimer’s Research UK (ARUK) in spectacular style with the Iceland Everest Expedition. Iceland’s founder and Chief Executive Malcolm Walker, with his son Richard, climbed to the North Col of Everest at 23,000 feet and four more experienced climbers went on to plant the Iceland and ARUK flags at the summit in May.

Following this inspiring example, more than 150 colleagues from North East England completed a mass climb of Snowdon, while others climbed Ben Nevis and completed the Three Peaks Challenge as part of our fundraising efforts for ARUK. Other initiatives during our annual charity week in August included sponsored walks, cycle rides, raffles, the recording of a song, a beach party and a night on the town in wellies filled with custard – plus the sale of a speedboat generously donated by one of our customers.

In total we raised more than £1.2 million for ARUK during 2011/12, specifically for research into early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. We have set ourselves the target of raising a further £1 million for this great cause in 2012/13, principally through our Cycle Britain sponsored bike ride. Our fundraising got off to a great start in May 2012 when we donated to ARUK a total of £139,277 raised through the 5p carrier bag levy in our stores in Wales.

Dementia is one of the biggest and most feared epidemics of our time. There are already around 800,000 people in the UK suffering from dementia, a figure that will soon rise to over a million, with 163,000 new cases being diagnosed in England and Wales each year. A recent survey by Alzheimer’s Research UK found that British people dread the prospect of dementia more than cancer and death itself. Virtually everyone in the UK will have already been touched by dementia in some way, with some 25 million people currently having a family member or close friend affected.

Almost a quarter of all the people we know and love will develop Alzheimer’s disease, which is the most common cause of dementia. Yet dementia research continues to receive only a tiny fraction of the funding provided by both Government and charities for research into cancer or heart disease.

Early onset Alzheimer’s disease is a particularly cruel affliction. It can affect people as young as 40: otherwise fit and healthy, typically with jobs and young families, perhaps also with responsibility for caring for an elderly parent. Research into early onset Alzheimer’s is particularly important not just because of the exceptional burden that it imposes on sufferers and their families, but also because it offers an opportunity to look at people who are suffering only from Alzheimer’s disease, rather than the multiple diseases and conditions typically associated with old age. So by focusing on early onset Alzheimer’s, we may be able to unlock secrets that will ultimately benefit all sufferers from the disease.

Alzheimer’s Research UK is the UK’s leading expert dementia research charity. As research experts, they specialise in funding world-class, pioneering research at leading universities to find preventions, treatments and a cure for dementia. They believe science and innovation hold the key to defeating dementia and invest in the scientists learning more about the condition and its causes.

Their findings improve the lives of everyone affected by dementia now and in the future. Alzheimer’s Research UK forges partnerships with Government and other key organisations to make dementia research a national priority. The charity encourages everyone to join them in supporting research and achieving a world free from dementia.

Click here to visit the Iceland Everest website
Click here to visit our JustGiving page for donations
Click here to visit the Alzheimer’s Research UK website
Click here to visit the Cycle Britain website